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Recession? What recession? Make ours a double

March 27, 2009 | 12:07
pm

How about a $3,000 shot of cognac for your recession wallet?

In a darkly comedic twist on the current State of the Cocktail Hour, the PR folks at Rémy Martin seem to have confused the word “recession” with “reduction.” Or maybe the French cognac producer simply hired a bad English translator.

Normally a 750-milliliter bottle of its Louis XIII cognac retails for $1,800 and a 1.75-L. bottle of its Louis XIII Black Pearl Magnum is a cool $32,000. (For the record: An earlier version of this post said that a 1.75-milliliter bottle of Louis XIII Black Pearl Magnum cost $32,000. That is incorrect, and would also be insanely expensive. In fact, it is the 1.75-liter bottle that carries that price tag.)

But wait! Now you can taste them both for an amazing low price. According to a news release seemingly sent without a shred of irony, Rémy Martin is launching a “Perfect Pour” program that offers the cognac in smaller portions, “allowing more guests to enjoy this legendary elixir.”

Translation: Now you can saddle up to your participating swanky restaurant bar and order a 2-ounce pour of the Black Pearl Magnum for the one-time-only price of just $3,000! If that’s still a little out of your price range, don't worry. You can taste a half-ounce sip for the low, low price of $750. (Does a half-ounce even count as a sip?)

If you’re still waiting to see whether your rent check clears, you can always stick to the standard Louis XIII. He’s a mere $50 for the half-ounce dribble. Note that these are suggested retail sipping prices and actual retail prices vary. A half-ounce will set you back $70 at the London Hotel’s Gordon Ramsay restaurant in West Hollywood and $75 at the Esquire Bar and Lounge in Pasadena. The $3,000 shot of Black Pearl? Like Ramsay, nowhere to be found in Los Angeles.